Czech Republic PMI November 2016

Czech Republic: Manufacturing PMI loses some ground in November

December 1, 2016

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) produced by IHS Markit declined from October’s 53.3 to 52.2 in November. The indicator nevertheless remained above the 50-point threshold which separates expansion from contraction in the manufacturing sector, but moved slightly below its long-run average.

November’s decrease in the Czech Republic mainly reflected slower growth in production and new orders, which more than offset faster job creation. New orders and output expanded for the third consecutive month, but at the softest pace in three months. On the external front, new export orders also increased, albeit at a moderate rate. Employment continued to rise, marking the strongest expansion in seven months. Manufacturers’ purchasing of inputs grew but only modestly. Regarding price developments, growth in input prices slowed compared to the previous month, and output charges rose mildly.

Trevor Balchin, Senior Economist at IHS Markit, commented that, “Czech manufacturing moved down a gear in November, following a strong start to the fourth quarter. This contrasted with a further acceleration in the eurozone goods-producing economy.”

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast participants see fixed investment increasing 2.0% in 2016, which is down 1 percentage points from last month’s projection. For 2017, panelists expect fixed investment to expand 3.2%, which is up 0.5 percentage points from last month’s forecast.

GDP grew a multi-year high of 2.3% over the previous quarter in Q2 in seasonally and working-day adjusted terms, according to an advance estimate released by the National Statistics Office (CSO) on 16 August.